


Honesty

by MythicMittens



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Pretty Short and Mild tbh, Skywalker Family Feels, very mild swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-14 15:58:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13011195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythicMittens/pseuds/MythicMittens
Summary: Obi-Wan tells Luke the truth about Darth Vader from the start, and it pretty much changes everything.





	1. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Here's another fairly short fic. I'm still a fanfic baby and not the most experienced writer, but I figured someone here will enjoy this and I enjoyed writing it! Focusing on Luke and Vader, to the point where other characters kinda fade into the background... But hey, I write what I like. First chapter is a bitty choppy but it gets better after that.

Obi-Wan wasn’t sure if what he was doing was the right thing or not, but in the past he’d often been so sure he was right, and how had that turned out?

No. It was not fair to keep this from Luke. He’d made more than his fair share of decisions for the galaxy, now was the time to trust in the next generation, no matter how often it reminded him of the previous. He would trust Luke to do what was right with the information given to him.

An exception had to be made regarding Leia, however. It was one thing to give Luke information about the father he had been missing his whole life, it was quite another to give Luke information that could endanger and tear apart the life of someone he’d only seen a hologram of.

He knew that he would not live to see the future that Luke would help create, but he could imagine.

 

Luke blinked in surprise, sitting down in Ben’s humble home. Today had been full of surprises. Runaway droids, Tusken raiders, and now Ben was trying to tell him his father had fought in the Clone Wars? He felt a little dizzy, but maybe that was from the blow to the head earlier.

“No, my father was a navigator on a spice freighter.” He said, repeating what his uncle had told him. Luke had pestered him quite often with questions of his father, and his story had never changed. Why would he lie?

“That’s what your uncle decided to tell you. He was worried if you knew the truth, you would run off and get yourself killed, like they thought he did.” Ben explained with a sad smile.

What? Did he hear that right? “Do you mean to say my father isn’t dead?” A small tingling sense of hope appeared inside of him, but he held it down, afraid to let it grow. He held his breath as he waited for Ben’s response.

“No, he yet lives, if you can call that living.” The sad smile faded and a haunted look came over his face. “He was once Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight, expert pilot, and my good friend. Now…” Ben closed his eyes and paused a moment. Luke could tell that this was hard for him, but a part of him was screaming for him to get it out already. The hope he felt was floating between fear and excitement. “He now goes by Darth Vader. He betrayed the Republic, he betrayed your mother, and he betrayed me… But even when I had the chance, I could not kill him.” A small glint of hope was in Ben’s eyes now. “I am sad to say that duty must fall to you..”

Luke stood immediately, backing away. “You want me to kill my own father?” He exclaimed in horror. How could Ben think he’d be okay with that? All this knowledge just dropped on him and then just told to kill the father he just learned he still had?

“You must understand, Luke, very little of your father actually remains, both physically and otherwise. The Dark Side seduced and corrupted him. I know very little of the Empire’s actions reach Tatooine, but he is a mechanical monstrosity. He killed the children at the Jedi Temple, Luke. He killed them all. He must be stopped.”

Luke was breathing hard now, his fists clenched. “No...” He ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm down. “No, I need to get home. My aunt and uncle are going to be worried. And I need time to process this…” Not that he could ever really truly process this what had been told to him, but he wanted out. “I gotta go.” He said firmly, moving to leave.

“Wait, Luke.” Ben said, walking over to a chest on the other side of the room. “At least let me give you this.” He handed him what seemed to be a silver cylinder with an interesting grip. “It’s your father’s lightsaber. The weapon of a Jedi. I think… he would have wanted you to have it. Anakin would have, anyway...”

Luke nodded, noting how right it felt in his hand, even despite it having obviously been made for a larger hand. Out of curiosity’s sake, he pressed the button on the side, making sure to face it away from his body. It made an interesting sound and ignited, a blue blade of light that somehow had a strange weight to it. He started into the light a moment before he remembered what Ben wanted him to do with it and felt sickened. He extinguished the blade and gave him a curt nod. “Thank you. You should really see what Artoo’s message was for you. It seemed important. I’ll figure out something to tell Uncle Owen.” Man, was he going to be pissed.

 

It took the deaths of the Lars’ to set Luke on the correct path. Obi-Wan was saddened to hear of their demise, even though Owen had been openly hostile to him, but he could not change destiny. Even though he had feared this reaction in Luke, he still knew Luke would fulfill that destiny. He had to.

 

The moment he saw the gray orb, he could feel Vader’s presence. He knew his end was coming, but… so soon? He had not had time to teach Luke, to help him understand what needed to be done. He had hoped that Luke would not be anywhere near Vader so soon after the revelation, with his emotions riled so. This… would be hard, but he knew there was a way to keep Luke from Vader’s grasp. As long as he was safe, he would have time to learn that Vader was indeed the monster he had said he was.

Yes, he could do this.

 

Luke had still been reeling from everything that had happened before when the day just kept getting crazier. He wasn’t even surprised by the turn of events anymore. Being pulled into an enormous, planet destroying space station and rescuing the princess from the holo seemed as normal as can be after everything, though it had gone pretty well. He was going to smell like garbage for a while, but they had the princess and the plans and the Falcon was in sight.

Taking a quick survey of the area, he saw Ben engaged in battle with a tall figure in black. Immediately, he knew this had to be Darth Vader. His father. He was frozen, despite the shots being fired around him, as he stared at the battle. Ben looked straight at him, a sad smile of resignation on his face. A second later, he was cut down. There was no body, but it was clear he was dead. Luke drew in a breath through his teeth, still frozen, feeling so far away from everything. He merely stared at Vader as he prodded the robes on the ground before turning and slowly walking towards them. He was struck with the urge to walk forward, but to what end? To fight him? To join him?

“Luke!”  
He wasn’t even sure which of his companions called his name, but it snapped him out of his daze. Reacting without thinking, his arm flew up and his blaster shot the control panel on the hatch, stopping Vader’s further progress.

Whatever he felt… about any of this, it was for a later time. He knew Vader didn’t know who he was, and he knew that would mean Vader would kill him without a thought. He needed out of here.

He ran back and up the ramp, still feeling almost… enthralled, but fighting it as best as he could.

The whole way back to the alliance base, he could only wonder what had made his father this way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rest goes pretty much as ANH does, mainly because Luke isn't yet able to tell Vader is the one participating in the Battle of Yavin. Also, I may or may not reply to comments (I have social anxiety) but I read and love every one of them!


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke is uncomfortable with his current position and connects a bit with Vader, though Vader doesn't know it yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feeling pretty self-conscious about my writing, but screw it, here it is. I had fun writing it so hopefully you have at least some fun reading it. Also as a word of warning, I write a pretty sappy Vader, so if you're more into emotionless Vader you might wanna skedaddle. Lastly, I can't find a way to make the timeline work, so I just didn't. This now exists in a bubble where anything can happen whenever I want it to.

For the next few months, Luke shoved everything he had into the Rebellion. It was fairly easy to do, give how busy and desperate they had been after the Battle of Yavin. After a short medal ceremony (Which had been… hard. How was it possible to feel like a traitor to both sides of a civil war?), it had been a mad scramble to evacuate and find some sort of temporary shelter while they looked for a more permanent base. He kept himself as busy as possible, mostly with trying to fill the gaps in his Tatooine home-schooled education. He was a natural pilot, but that didn’t mean he knew anything about tactics or how to fly in a squadron. 

What little free time he had was usually spent with Leia and Han. The instantaneous connection he felt with them survived even his horrible guilt at not telling them about his parentage. They made him feel that this was really where he was meant to be, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t deny the pull he felt to his father.

“Hey, man, you hear about your bounty?” Wedge asked, walking beside him with an arm around his shoulders. Wedge had been the only other survivor of Red Squadron, and things had been tense between them for a while. He’d kinda had the feeling that Wedge almost blamed him for the deaths, which honestly Luke couldn’t really begrudge him of the opinion. But after a while he had seemed to warm up to him and they’d become friends.

“No?” He replied, half an answer and half a question. “What do you mean?”

“Seems like the Empire finally figured out that you’re the pilot who destroyed the Death Star and put out a shiny new bounty with your name on it. Higher bounty than I’ve ever seen.” The humor in Wedge’s voice was tempered with the concern in his eyes. He tried to keep it lighthearted but he knew this was really scary stuff.

Really, though, all Luke felt was resignation. Vader knows.

It was bound to happen, of course. He hadn’t said no when the Rebellion had wanted to use him for a propaganda campaign, and even without a name, enough information was readily available. It honestly didn’t take that much digging to go from “son of a Jedi from Tatooine” to “Luke Skywalker.” For a brief moment he resented the fact that neither Ben nor his aunt and uncle had decided to change his last name, but he figured it wouldn’t have changed that much in the end.

“Is there at least a good holo of me on the bounty?” He asked, keeping his tone light, even though he knew Wedge could tell something was wrong.

Mercifully, Wedge let it slide. Who wouldn’t be upset with a bounty that big, especially since “alive only” implied a certain type of hell? “No,” he said remorsefully. “It’s all blurry. High Command is pissed because it was obviously taken by a spy. Intelligence is having a fit.”

A spy? Obviously there had to be some, given that the Rebellion had spies in the Empire, but it seemed much more real now. “Well, thanks for telling me.” Luke said truthfully, patting him on the shoulder. “I’m going to go get some rest. Just got off my shift.”

“You’ll have the room to yourself for a time then, got a few hours left. Longer if I don’t stop talking and get back to work.” He said with a grin.

“Great, I won’t have to deal with your snoring for a while.” Luke teased.

“I don’t snore!” Wedge insisted.

“Of course not,” he said, performing a mocking bow of concession.

Wedge squinted in fake anger before a sharp voice yelled “Antilles!” He looked over his shoulder and back to Luke with an eye-roll. “I better go, you know how he gets.”

“Yeah,” Luke agreed. He turned to leave but felt a tug at his arm.

“Hey,” Wedge said, humor gone from his face and compassion in it’s place. “Get some sleep, and… stay safe, okay?” Luke nodded before finally pulling away, a small smile on his face.

 

Returning to the room he shared with Wedge, he flopped face first down on his bed. Times like these made him grateful for the prestige awarded to him as the pilot who destroyed the Death Star. Anyone else of his rank would be bunking with at least 5 other people. He wasn’t alone, sure, but he didn’t really mind Wedge’s snoring as much as he said he did.

Sighing, he tried to recall everything he had learned about Darth Vader since he had come to join the Rebellion. He had studied furiously those first few weeks, explaining it away as wanting to know his enemy, given that Vader had killed his mentor, but unsurprisingly all of information had been tactical in nature, what little there was anyway. Nothing about who Vader was, how he had come to be second in command of the Empire, or why he did what he did. He supposed no one else would really care. But Luke did.

In short, the research had been for nothing, and he was still no closer to understanding his father than that day on the Death Star. But... the new bounty definitely had meaning. The steep price and “alive only” certainly meant that Vader felt he had some sort of value alive, but to what extent? As a pawn? As a successor? As a… son?

Despite all the thoughts in his head, he had just come off a long shift, and he was tired. He barely managed to kick off his boots and slip under the covers before he fell asleep.

 

When Luke next awoke, something was… wrong. It was dark, far darker than anything he’d ever experienced. Faintly, there was a hollow noise ringing in his ears. He felt around, waving his arms in front of him, but only touched air. Looking down at his own hands he saw they were faintly blue and transparent, like a hologram. Deeply confused, he picked a direction and walked forwards.

As he walked, a large illuminated cylinder became visible, casting a faint greenish glow to the void he found himself in. Coming closer, he saw a scarred figure in what was clearly a bacta tank. His stomach dropped as he realized who this was, and at the same time, the echoing noise morphed into the sound of a respirator.

This was Darth Vader. This was his father. Without the armor, without the mask. He looked… vulnerable. 

He took a step back instinctively, confused. None of this was making sense. He looked like a holo, Vader was here, and-

He was startled out of his thoughts when his father opened his eyes and spoke.

“My son,” he said, his voice raspy and week. It was nothing like the artificial voice that he usually spoke with. A pang of sadness tore through him as he wondered what Ben had done to him. No one deserved this. “You are my son, and yet I have seen so little of you. Nothing more than a glance, than a hologram...”

A few things fell into place. He looked like a blurry holo because that was how his father saw him, because somehow, he was in his father’s dream. Luke didn’t know much about medicine, but he knew you had to be at least somewhat sedated to be in bacta. Was that why this… connection was established? Their unconscious minds coming together somehow, in the Force?

But… Vader didn’t seem to think that Luke was actually there. His presence seemed fuzzy, and it hadn’t seemed like Vader was really talking to him.

He opened his mouth to speak, though he had no idea of what to say, when his father spoke again.

“Soon, my child, you shall be by my side, and all will be right. The Rebellion can’t hide you much longer. I won’t let them.” His father closed his eyes, and Luke had the strange sensation of being pulled away. He- or Vader- was waking up. Closing his eyes, disoriented, he opened them again to find himself back in his bed.


End file.
